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April 2006

April 23rd, ’06: Open Polo Coast to Coast. It was the Jackson Hole Open was finished today just about the time the fourth chukker ended in the U.S. Open.  It was a little closer in the Jackson Hole after 2 days as California Polo stopped Rancho Esperanza in the final chukker to take home the Silver. I would guess a couple of old desert favorites, Hector Galindo and Jeff Hall, wished they were here for the day.  After an amazing run through 30 days of 26-goal polo they were in the finals and just never got their feet today. Las Monjitas, a Columbia-based team, came as a favorite and did just that.  They stayed there as they blew by Orchard Hill in the 2006 U.S. Open Finals and are now the U.S. OPEN CHAMPS. A horse named AMY was the star and this may ring a bell here in Santa Barbara.  It was AMY who Adam Snow rode in the 4th chukker in the finals of the Pacific Coast Open Finals in 2004.  Amy and Adam literally destroyed Tuscany Oaks with 5 unanswered goals and won that finals as well, but she did not get the best playing pony which was never understood by me.  Amy sure got honored today in the U.S. Open. Well done to Camilo, Adam, Nacho and Eduardo.

Here in Indio, CA on the final day it was another young Patron Alex Rabida leading the charge of his California Polo Team to a well deserved victory over a hard-riding Danny Brown, who has had little polo this year.  He played with Joe Gallemore who has had almost as little polo, but they came to play and just missed the upset by a goal gone wide.

April 16th, ’06: The Ladies did it on Easter Sunday - The finals were just like most finals, fast, furious and they were played in front of a big crowd on a picture perfect Easter Sunday in good old Indio, CA. There was no doubt it would be a hard day of polo.  The word is “very” as several games came down to overtime or shootouts.  At 10 AM it was the consolation finals with O.C. POLO taking on PORTLAND and POWAY. It was a big win for Portland in the first two and they took a break and Poway moved over OC Polo as well.  Then they were too warmed up for Portland to recover. POWAY took the consolation round at the same time. Over on field 1 it was the C flight finals and it was a fired up Phoenix jumping all over the College crowd from San Luis Obisbo of H&J CONSTRUCTION, but only for a little bit.  Then here came H&J and they were up, but it was not over as Stacey, Katie, Debbie and Diane were not dropping out.  They tied it all up and forced overtime.  It was settled in a shootout were they were again tied after 1 round and Phoenix finally put an end to it and took the silver home.  In the “B” flight finals it was PoloBARN.COM taking on LES CRIQUES and in the end it was the French Twist and the Stage Lady Freddie leading Les Criques from down under to take the win away from the hard charging Therese Volmer and PoloBARN.COM.  It was hats off to Kit Neacy and Lynni Hutton as they went with Caroline Anier and fearless Freddie Harris for the Cup.  In the big final of the day it was the Tall & Sexy Shelley Geiler with the French Twist and Ms. “Vanna” Jessica Mano and Susan taking on a hard-fighting Young Gun Named Jenny and the big stick was Abby Riggs.  She had Cybel Jordan and Vicki Owens closing the door, but T & S Shelley came to play today and took her man and sent the ball threw the hoop.  It was a very fast and furious game. The teams were seldom different by more than 1 goal throughout the game. It was LES ANGLES GARDENS stopping COTTEREL FARMS in the main attraction on a beautiful Easter Sunday afternoon.  They will carry the title of 2006 Women’s Challenge Champs, but it was a great showing by Jenny and her Cotterel Farms team.  They will be back I am sure.I have another one for the whining list about cost for Polo.  The two teams in the finals of the U.S. Open had a cost of approx. $750 grand ea. That would be equal for the whole cost of 31 teams in Eldorado Polo Club and that was just 1 team. .  There were 13 teams in the U.S. OPEN it is another World.  Like the handicaps here, there is no comparison.  We just like to think we are in the same league. We are not!  So when you are thinking about building a team for the summer, think about how good you have it.  Help someone by paying them right.  Pay the players and grooms a fair wage so they can be a part of polo.  The pros need to be able to afford to ride a real horse onto the field. As the sun sets on what may be one of the final seasons of Eldorado Polo Club (we may have one more), we all head somewhere else where it rains and the grass is green soon.  Whether Eldorado Polo Club has one more season next Winter, it was home of a lot of good times and good polo.  If its open next year lets all ask for watered fields, clean places and good polo just one time before its really gone. See ya

It was a great event and many thanks to the people who made it happen. 

Down South in Florida where the big boys are slugging it out it was an old Desert Rat beating a New Desert Rat.  Hector Galindo, who was a big favorite here for years, led Orchard Hill to the semis against the MIG or Miguelito Torres.  Miguelito, a young gun from the desert, is playing in the U.S. Open with defending champions White Birch.  Now they head to the semis with Little Mac’s team (Frederick Mannix, Jr.) which he is not currently playing on due to a injured wing.  So as the final week comes up from coast to coast look for action to start like right now in Houston and Dallas. 

P.S. Josey (Joseph Stuart) was in the finals of the Miami Beach Polo Tournament yesterday and the final results have not been reported as of yet.  See you at the Open, Jackson Hole or anywhere in the U.S.

April 15th, ’06: The ladies are rocking on the greens - Its plain easy to see Polo has become a very good sport for women. MAYBE THEY ARE NOT JUST CHICKS WITH STICKS.  They are fast. Four top ladies might beat four men at the same level, which is more than we care to admit.  Size or age does not matter.  Just horses and the position of them can do most of the work. It was a busy day as 40 ladies took on the fields of Eldorado Polo Club with some picture perfect polo weather.  It was the Girls of H&J Construction running the show on field 2 at 10 AM as they were just a little more savvy than Poway and Portland.  They had an edge as well, they have been playing lately somewhere where Portland does not have much polo this time of year. At high noon it was “Oh Canada” team having another nail bitter, but coming in second best to Les CRIQUES.  Les Criques also has a bit of a foreign flavor with French, English and a little Yank blood in the center as well.  So Les Criques head to the finals against the speed & power of Ms. Volmer and SS.  It should be a good one.  In the lower bracket it was Stacy and Katy out of Arizona joining up with Zero Gravity and Mia Di Giovanni with super sports writer Diane Hensley.  They blew by O.C. POLO and head to the finals where they will take on the Construction crew of young guns from hard-riding Laura Willson and a couple of college sweethearts named Danielle Travis and Kate Cappe with their boss lady who is the Judge as in Megan Judge.  So it should be a good one.  In the super A flight there will be Cotterel Farms and a fired up rookie named Jenny Lutrell leading the charge backed up with the speed of Abby Riggs, Cybel Jordan and Vicki Owens closing the door.  Look out for Les Anges Gardens, they have Tall & Sexy Shelley Geiler (maybe taking her man or woman0 and Jessica “Vanna” Mano.  Maybe running and making room for the French Twist (Caroline Anier) to score those goals if Susan who is at their back door can close it.  It’s anybody's game.  See ya. HAPPY EASTER TO ALL OF YOU

In the Irish Cup it was a day full of polo as everybody has a chance as General Lee Pettigrew is lame and out of it all. It was Flowers/PoloBARN.com heading to the finals with a new star named Flowers, David that is.  They have to deal with Fountain View Led by Lolo Payan and Debbie Shea.  In the 8 + it was Sean Keys a.k.a. Sir who actually tied the Double J's  (Jason Crowder and Joseph Stuart).  He did not beat them, but tied them.  Long beach and Maui led by a young gun named Jessie James Neuworth head into the final round at 5 all.  The kicker is that Sir Sean finaly has a chance, but he is riding the Double J's horses as O & 6 in 06 is looking better on Sunday on the main field in prime time.  (0 & 6 referring to S.K.’s record against the double J’s).  The season is winding down and it is time for summer polo. So if need horses or if you have plans to go somewhere else, let us know. We can connect you to a very good place somewhere to play POLO.  See you all somewhere this summer.

April 8th, ’06: Fat man walking. No its not me. I still like a golf carts, but there is a former Marine named Steve Vaught who is walking across America to raise hope against obesity.  His efforts can be inspirational.  It shows us what we need to do to improve our Polo. We need to work to improve polo and to earn support for our industry. We all can do this by helping in some way. Whether it be bringing in a new member or a old foe or friend.  The people who know polo need to give a little more all the time.  We need to encourage the youth, help educate our grooms and pros in the industry.  We can show him or her what’s wrong or right. Often I see a horse tacked up wrong or in bad health or just dirty.  We all see this, but stop and explain why this is wrong.  Take the time to help others and make a difference. If the groom, owner or someone involved may not know about something.  So before you complain to someone, try and help.  If they do not care, then complain.  It is important to first be fair and then be happy. You can help or try to at least. If all of us do this just a little bit, we may be able to help polo grow. So many people in Polo do not seem to care anymore.  The fields, stables, equipment and other elements are all going backwards and look bad because not many do care.  This is just the way it is at the moment. This has to stop. We need to care about polo, the condition of the fields, horses and misc. We need to tell management the fields are bad.  We need to tell owners of horses when some horse needs something.  We need to show them why a saddle or bridle is not right.  If you do not know, ask someone who does.  Whatever you do, make it better not worse.

We have a lot of new young kids playing polo, so there is a future for polo.  If we all help a little bit it will be our future as well.  So be happy and support our sport in a positive way.  We need it.

See ya.

April 2, ’06:  The Flying Palomino and an amazing finish. It was the finals of the biggest tournament on the West Coast, the 6-goal U.S.P.A. Governor's Cup.   Sixteen teams took the field during the past two weeks to battle it out.  The finals was supposedly played in the semis against Hidden Creek, but someone forgot to tell the Golden Falcons this as they battled it to the end with no clue they should not win. In the finals the Golden Falcons met Carnation Farms on Field 1. It was a seesaw battle as the Golden Falcons went up by 2 in the first chukker.  Then came the triple J's (Jason Crowder, Joseph Stuart and Juan Jose Gonzalez) and Carnation Farms went right back and up by 1 and then by 2.   The Golden Falcons started to turn up the heat again. The Golden Falcons were powered by Ernie Ezcurra and 2 young guns in the form of Santi Torres and Khaled Badr El Din.  They all played outstanding.  They faced off well with the 3 J's and the D for Dina of Carnation Farms.  Dina is not old, but she was the oldest person on the field as she is Josey's Mom. 

After Juan Jo put Carnation Farms up by 2, here came the young guns of the Golden Falcon’s to tie it with 30 seconds on the clock in the 3rd chukker.  From coast to coast a Palomino (Jason Crowder) and a bay named Buddy flew to the scoreboard to finish the 3rd up by 1.  The final chukker was not a very good one as several delays were caused by players falling.  Santi came off his horse twice, the field was dry and a little slick, but the final chukker finally got rocking. 

Dina Stuart takes a spill. Photo by Eryn Leja.

Then there was another delay as Mom (Dina Stuart) bought a case of cold Bud (she took a spill) and the pressure was on.  Golden Falcons tied it up and won the throw in with 1.20 on the clock in the 4th chukker.  They took a shot wide and with 31 seconds to go it was the Palomino (Jason Crowder) on the knock in which went a bit stray. Josey covered and Juan Jo and Dina picked.  Then boom the ball from Josey was back in the hands of the Palomino and with a mighty smash from 110 yards out he put it through the goal.  It went in and the rest is history as the clock was down to 12 or so seconds. That was CARNATION FARMS trip to the Victory stand. This may be a first for a Mother and Son combo to win the Governor’s Cup.  It was a day when horse power was evident.

In the other finals on a very nice day at Eldorado Polo Club it was the Golden Falcons and Chief Amin Badr El Din just outlasting a new and young gun from the far North, Blake Clark.  Blake proved he can leave the snow of Calgary and still make the finals as his Calgary team just could not finish the deal.  The Golden Falcons took the JOHN DEERE CLASSIC in the 8-Goal Finals.

In the Tack Mart Cup it was SHOOT 4 THE MOON powered by Christian and Katie Moon, “Vanna” Jessica Mano, who does not mean bad things about the VFW, she just said it the wrong way on the message board.  Jessica is married to a soldier. 

In the Pacific Circuit finals it was Golden Bears/CNS out dueling Shelley and crew as Ms. Tall and Long  (Shelley Geiler) forgot to take her man I hear. Kelly’s Tavern will have some silver for the wall as Kelly Maloney and crew (Ohana) won the Governor's Challenge over DMI. Mr. Smooth (Curt Hughes) could not score all of the goals as he had no help.  Friendly Chevy lost to High Prairie.  Ms. Jenny Lutrell of High Prairie put her name on the Lt. Governor’s Cup as a rookie in her first trip to the sand dunes of Indio. 

At 10 am it was a group of young players in the form of La Mancha.  That is The Gray Ghost’s (Dempsey Mork’s) team came flying from 5 back on the hip of a Midget Rocket named Patrick Uretz.  They caught up with JHHE and beat them with 10 seconds to go. I think World Gym won the other side, but I could not say for sure.  I maybe wrong.  It could have been Fountain View, but it was a heck of a day for polo.  It was so exciting to finish the way it did.

 

THE WINNERS WERE :

 

CARNATION FARMS           OHANA           HIGH PRARIE       GOLDEN FALCONS 

DINA STUART            KELLY MALONEY       JENNY LUTRELL    AMIN BADR EL DIN 

JUAN GONZALEZ        SANTOS ARREOLA      JUAN CURBELO     CARLOS CREBRERA 

JOE STUART           LUIS SACORRO       HUGO BARABUCCI

JASON CROWDER        BOB GRAY            REMINGTON OR STERLING GIANNICO

April 1st, ’06:  Will it be?  Hidden Creek will not go to the Governor’s Cup Finals, but it will be CARNATION FARMS.  They were just a little too fast for the boys from Hidden Creek. It was 3 J's and a D (Jason Crowder, Joseph Stuart and Juan Jose Gonzalez and Dina Stuart) as they were one better, one more time than Hidden Creek.  It was a very good game on a not so perfect day as it was not a sunny desert day.  There was no rain, but it was a little windy and very cool.  We had a very good performance by Carnation Farm as they have now knocked out the try for a three peat by White Oak and stopped the Red Machine (Hidden Creek) in the last 2 games. In the Lt. Govenor’s Cup it was Mr. Smooth (Curt Hughes) and his son Lance did a very good job as they led the charge of Friendly Chevy as they powered by Hoback on their way to the finals. In the Governor’s Challenge it was Ms. Kellie and OHANA who took Park Place down. Ms. Kellie is looking for silver for Kellie’s Tavern just over the hill. It should be a wild one.  In other action it was High Prairie and Ms. Lutrel beating up on the Double Eagles and they will head to a match with MR. Smooth  & Lance, Big David Aberham and The Little Z with a very big stick Clemente Zavaleta.  It should be a dandy as well, so see you at the big ones on Sunday.  Do not be late.  It is the time change tonight, so remember its Spring so its spring forward 1 hour, not Fall back.  See ya.See you at the IRISH CUP next weekend.

March 31st, ’06: The Polo World We Know - When you look around the world of polo and think about it what do you think? Is it magic?  Is it a dream world?  Or is it the way you thought it would be?  If you think it is as you thought it would be, you must have been born in the polo world. There is no doubt that it is a land of the unknown for most people. Not because its a rich mans game and it is, but I would venture to say 90% of the people in polo are not rich and never will be.  Polo is a world that makes you feel rich. You are in the favorite escapes and places in the World.  There is always green grass and the weather is usually better than anywhere else around.  This is the first clue you are living in the right place like the wealthy. It is so nice to be in these places. I know so many stories of things you would never believe because if it was not for polo it could not be true.

In 1975 I wandered into the world of polo. I was in south Florida at a place called Royal Palm Polo  Club in Boca Raton, FL.  Boca Raton, a town then of 38k people on Glades Road.  The Polo Club was owned by Arvida Corp. It was a small sport.  All people were big names in the USA. The bosses were like Uihlien, Busch, Oxley, Ylvisaker, Firestone, Orthwein, Fortungo, Butterworth, Bostwick, Johnston and several others. I think there were 3 foreign polo players including Julian Hipwood, Gonzalo Tanoria and Pablo Rincon Gallardo.  We had a BBQ ever week and a down home party at the lounge every Sunday night.

Well 4 years later in 1979, two men made the sport of Polo a World affair. John T. Oxley and Bill Ylvisaker built polo stadiums 30 miles apart and the world of polo changed as fast as a full moon. We started big polo and we are still there, just bigger. Life changes and so do times. Boca is now a city of 300,000 people, Royal Palm is dwindling and Palm Beach Polo is history. Wellington, FL connects to Palm Beach and Argentines are no longer amateurs.   22 Goal  is no longer high goal and they have electric scoreboards.  The horses go faster, the grooms are not English and most grooms are not women. Polo players are athletes training at gyms, not Cowboys, grooms and horseman who had hand-eye coordination. They come from everywhere and go everywhere. In America there are probably fewer polo players and less patrons now than the good old days.  Is it time or cost that reduced our number of players?  We will never know because the older patrons have many offspring playing polo still to this day, but few support polo the way their Fathers did.  Really only one polo player I know of who followed to support polo like his father and that was a man named Johnston. New people took up the sport. The World got richer and they found this a good place to be in their off season.  So that’s good.  International Polo Club (IPC) has become just that. The class of the World and it carries it through the turn of the century in a style similar to the 1920's.  IPC is a place for the rich & famous.  Like all things in life, a small percentage of very rich can afford to play polo and the rest of us are there too, but its good to be there with them.  If you do not mind travel there’s not a better way of life. No snow, no cold, no heat waves and no ugly places. The polo world is a great place to raise your children and to be involved in for the most part.

There were about 100 or so people involved in Boca Polo Club the first year I was there.  Many of these people are somehow still involved in polo through their children or themselves.  All of the original patrons are still somehow involved. Most of the grooms and pros from that era are still involved as well.  The first person I met in Florida was Jimmy Newman, Polo Manager extraordinaire. A few others who are still in polo are David Lominska who is a polo Photographer elite, Benny Gutierrez, Tom Hughes, Kathy Linfoot. JJ Duggan.   Ronnie now runs a polo ranch, Casey runs Boca, Davey Rizzo is still head of N.Y. Mafia, Hipwood still plays, Evans’ boys play, Oxley's sons own Boca, the Barry’s are still around either playing or umpiring or somehow involved. Armour is boss man at Isla Carroll, Wayman is near and his son plays. Some people are gone from the polo World.

In 1979 things changed. Polo spread apart. Many came from everywhere and stuck together in their own ways.  Polo became a big business and a real job. Horses, pros, fields and everything changed mostly for the better, but not all would agree I am sure. Speed, power, and discipline arrived and the first to show it were 2 young players from Argentina and Mexico. Gonzalo Pieres came from Argentina and from Mexico came Memo Gracida. Somehow John T. Oxley was responsible for both. Memo was first to arrive in Boca and found his way to greener pastures with Steve Gose.  Gonzalo came like a bolt of lighting, small for those days, but quick and nearly unbeaten. For 3 years he worked for Oxley, but Gonzalo also found greener pastures as he joined the organizer Hector Barrantes with the man who made today’s polo what it is, Peter Brant.  Peter made polo a big business and no excuses for anything but success. Both Gonzalo and Memo made their way to the top of the game and are pure examples of very successful business men and could both be patrons as well as polo sires. Gonzalo has 2 boys with handicaps of10 and Memo's son Julio is at 5 and going up.

Polo grew in the 80's from the two clubs in FL to small clubs across the country.  In the 90's the polo industry was hurt some by the financial World, but new people and new places came.  The turn of the century looked rough, then a few people and teams like White Birch, Isla Carroll and Kerry Packard took it to the next level where it is today.